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This tutorial session covers more advanced concepts in C programming, including arrays, pointers, memory allocation, structures, unions, and typedef. Topics include multidimensional arrays, dynamic arrays, malloc and free functions, dynamically allocating memory, dynamic array allocation, dynamic array resizing, structures and operations on structures, unions, and typedef.
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C TutorialSession #4 More on Arrays and Pointers Memory allocation Structures, Unions & typedef
Review • intiArr[30];&iArr[0] == &iArr; // equivalent • int(*p)[2]; // pointer to array of 2 integersint*p[2]; // array of 2 pointers to integers • int foo = 100;int *bar;bar = &foo;*bar = 200;What is: 1. foo; 2. &foo; 3. bar; 4. *bar; 5. &bar; MemoryAddress foo 0x1000 bar 0x1020
Pointers to multidimensional arrays int Zippo[2][4]; • Zippo is the starting address of this 2-d array. It is same as &Zippo[0]. • Zippo[0] itself is an array of 4 integers. • Zippo[0] is same as &Zippo[0][0].
Difference between arrays and pointers • Array name is a constant. • Pointer is a variable. • Example: char hello[] =“hello”; char *helle = “helle”; hello++; //illegal helle++; //legal
Dynamic arrays • You don’t always know your array size in advance. • Static arrays waste a lot memory. • malloc() andfree()
malloc ( ) • Example of the usage of malloc ( ): char *name; name = (char *) malloc(length * sizeof(name));
Dynamically allocate memory • mallocallocates a chunk of memory and returns the starting address of the memory. • free frees memory • Note: you are responsible for releasing the memory allocated by malloc function.
An example of malloc char *name = (char *)malloc(namelen * sizeof(char)); name Size: namelen
Sample code int main(){ char name[] = “I am a string.”; char *temp; temp = (char *)malloc( (strlen(name)+1) * sizeof(char)); strcpy(temp, name); … free(temp); }
Caution: memory leak char str1[] = “string one”; char str2[] = “string two”; char *temp; temp = (char *) malloc ((strlen(str1) + 1) * sizeof(char)); strcpy(temp, str1); temp = (char *) malloc ((strlen(str2) + 1) * sizeof(char)); strcpy(temp, str2); free(temp);
Two dimensional dynamic array • Use pointer to pointers. • Syntax: <type> **name; • Example: int **arr; • arr is a pointer to an integer pointer. It can be used as a 2-d array.
Sample usage • Suppose we need a 2-d array to store a matrix. However, neither the column size nor the row size of the matrix is known. Thus, we need to use a 2-dim dynamic array. • Code: int **matrix; • Question: how do we allocate 2-dim memory.
Matrix example int **matrix; matrix = (int **)malloc(row * sizeof(int *)); for (i = 0; i< col; i++) { matrix[i] = (int *)malloc(col *sizeof(int)); } Caution: we need a for loop to free that memory
Dynamically change array size • Sometimes we need to change array size in the middle of programs. • The realloc function. • Syntax: realloc (baseadd, newsize);
Example of using realloc char f_name[] = “John”; char l_name[]= “Smith”; char *name = (char *)malloc((strlen(f_name)+1) * sizeof(char)); strcpy(name, f_name); name = (char *)realloc(name, (strlen(f_name)+strlen(l_name)+1) * sizeof(char)); strcat(name, l_name); // memory leak… sprintf (name, "%s, %s", l_name, f_name);
Introduction to structures • Choosing a good way to represent data is very important • “A structure is a collection of one or variables, possibly of different types, grouped together under a single name for convenient handling.”struct point {int x;int y; };
Example: book inventory struct book { char title[MAX]; char author[MAX]; float value; } struct book library; //declare a book variable struct book library1; gets(library.title); scanf(“%f”, &library.value); struct book library2 = {"The Host", "Meyers, Stephanie", 19.95”);
Structures (cont.) • Operations on a structure • copy it • assign to it as a unit • take its address with & • accessing its members • Pointers to structures struct book library, *bk; bk = &library; strcpy (bk->title, "The Hunger Games”); • Arrays of Structures struct book library[MAX];
Unions • Unions allow a variable to hold different types (at different times) union u_tag {intival; float fval; char &sval; } u; • Allocated to hold the largest possible value • Accessed in same manner as structures:printf (“string val %s”, u.sval);printf (“intval %d”, u.ival);
typedef • Create new data type names typedefint Length; Length len, maxlen, *lengths[]; typedef char *String; typedefstructtnode *Treeptr; typedefstructtnode { // tree node char *word; // points to the textint count; // number of occurencesTreeptr left; // left child Treeptr right; // right child } Treenode; Treeptrtalloc(void) { return (Treeptr) malloc (sizeof (Treenode));} • typedef does not create a new type, only adds a new name for some existing type